Flat glass parts included in items such as windows, curtain walls, mirrors or any similar articles are almost always cut from large glass panes. A typical dimension for these large glass panes is 96 inches by 144 inches, other dimensions being also used as well. The smaller glass sections are cut from the large glass panes according to calculated patterns in order to obtain a maximum use thereof. A computer is used for optimizing the cutting patterns. The goal is usually to reach an efficiency ratio of at least 92% of the surface area of each original glass pane. With such yield, the glass offcuts are usually too small to be useful and are simply sent to a bin for glass material recycling.
There is a very wide range of different glass panes on the market to fulfill the needs of customers. Glass panes can have different thicknesses, colors, resistances, hard and soft coatings, etc. Some production lines are thus supplied with different types of glass panes every day to process various orders from their customers. This situation is usually that of commercial window manufacturers. For instance, when manufacturing windows for a new building, a number of glass sections will have to be cut from several large glass panes. However, once the order is completed, the last one of the large glass panes is often used only partially, thus less than the usual 92% efficiency ratio goal. Another section of this specific glass offcut may not be required again for several weeks or even months.
When the glass offcut is relatively small, for instance 36 inches by 48 inches, two workers can remove it from the production line and store it on a rack until it is needed again. However, in the case of a large glass offcut, for instance a section of 36 inches by 72 inches, the handling by hand is generally considered too dangerous to be undertaken. This is why these large offcuts are currently cut into smaller parts to ease their manipulation by hand. The drawback of these smaller parts is that they will be useless if they are smaller than what is needed. Yet, even if someone is able to remove large glass offcuts from a production line, inadequate manipulation and storage may destroy their value. For instance, many glass panes have a soft coating on one side. This soft coating will eventually be located inside a window or a mirror once the glass item is assembled. Meanwhile, the exposed surface is very sensitive to scratches or dust. Storing glass offcuts one against another or horizontally may damage the soft coating. Also, it may be difficult to maintain a constant inventory of sections still available.
For all these reasons, it is usually simpler for operators to throw all glass offcuts into a recycle bin and send the bin offsite for material recycling. This of course decreases the yield and thus the profits. For customers, it increases the costs and delay for replacing one window in the future. If a customer wants to replace a window with a particular kind of glass, a new large glass pane will need to be ordered and manufactured in accordance to the specifications, shipped to the processing plant and then cut. Its own offcut will most probably be destroyed thereafter.
There is clearly a need for an improved storage system for glass offcuts and a new method for storing glass offcuts. There is also a need for a method of recycling glass offcuts, namely being able to reuse them at a later time.